Yoo-Chang Nah

Baritone Yoo-Chang Nah was born in Seoul (South Korea) and started piano lessons at the age of six. He studied at the National University in Seoul, then studied Musicology to "Magister" level, alongside an engagement as a solo singer at the National Opera. He completed a course of further study in singing with Prof. Henner Leyhe at the School of Music in Cologne, achieving a Distinction in the "Diplom" examination in Singing - Oratorio and Opera Singing. In 2003, he also took his concert examination.

Yoo-Chang Nah has won prizes at many competitions, including the Schubert Competition (Seoul), Bergheim Singing Competition (NRW), Int. Vocal Competition s’Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), the Alexander Girardi International Singing Competition (Coburg) and the Helga and Paul Hohnen Foundation International Singing Competition (Cologne). He was an ensemble member at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, at the Passau Theatre and at the Detmold State Theatre. Yoo-Chang Nah also performed as a guest artist at theatres in Rostock, Hof, Wuppertal, Osnabrück, Erfurt, Koblenz, Kasan/Russia and at the National Opera in Korea. He sang parts including lead roles, such as Papageno (the Magic Flute), Zar (Zar and Zimmermann), Posa (Don Carlos), Marcello (La Bohème), Silvio (Pagliacci), Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Heerrufer (Lohengrin) and also in operetta and various contemporary operas.

As a soloist in the field of concertos and oratorios, Yoo-Chang Nah has appeared with the WDR Rundfunkorchester Cologne, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover, the Radio Philharmonie Niederlande and the NDR Choir and the Cologne Chamber Choir. He has sung under conductors including R.Goebel, P.Neumann, M.Creed, H.Froschauer, C.Spering, R.Gritton, R.Otto and P.Kuentz and made countless appearances with the Kölner Philharmonie at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Teatro Olimpico in Rome, among other places. He has sung at concerts in Austria, Belgium, France, the USA, Russia and South Korea.

Yoo-Chang Nah has worked on many broadcast recordings and CDs of the WDR Rundfunkorchester including works by H. Marschner, C.M. Weber, A. Lortzing and H. Wolf. The recording of the opera, "Coscoletto", (J. Offenbach), won the German Record Critics' Prize 2006.

Since 2005, Yoo-Chang Nah has been teaching solo singing at the Cologne School of Music in Cologne, and since 2010 at Dr Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main.